Van Kleiss
Can drain nanites from E.V.O.s Can create E.V.O.s Superhuman strength and agility |gender = Male |hair color = Black with gray streaks |portrayed by: = Troy Baker |eye color = Dark red |weapons = Bio-mechanical arm}} Van Kleiss is the leader of the Pack and Abysus. He wants to take over the world and start a new era for E.V.O.-kind. To help him accomplish this, he has formed a dangerous group of E.V.O.s called the Pack. He claims to know all about Rex and his past, a fact he often uses to try to persuade Rex to join his cause. History Background Van Kleiss was a scientist who was doing nanite research with Dr. Gabriel Rylander 1.09, "Dark Passage". When the Nanite Event occurred five years ago, Van Kleiss was in close proximity to the blast. Afterward, Kleiss presumably discovered that he was gifted with the ability to control abysus, infused with the nanites from the blast. However, Van Kleiss' nanites are not stable, and he requires a constant supply of active nanites to maintain his form. Season One :Main Article: History of Van Kleiss (First Season) Season Two :Main Article: History of Van Kleiss (Second Season) Season Three Riddle of the Sphinx It is revealed that Van Kleiss was sent to ancient Egypt by Breach's newfound time-traveling abilities. He was shown in one of the hieroglyphs that Black Knight took from the tomb which she destroyed, which indicates that he had some involvement due to the creation of the mummy-like E.V.O. called Gharun Set and the fabled Hall of Records. 3.04, "Riddle of the Sphinx" Personality Cunning and manipulative, Van Kleiss does not hesitate to seize opportunities to further his plans. He is cold and ruthless when it comes to achieving his goals. If a Pack member does not comply with Van Kleiss' orders, he will turn them to stone by draining their nanites and place their petrified bodies in his garden. 1.01, "The Day That Everything Changed" Van Kleiss talks in a polite manner most of the time, even during battle or while taunting his opponents. He has a bit of a humorous side to him, as shown when he stopped in mid-battle just to ask Rex why he was "taking out his frustrations on a wall". However, Van Kleiss' polite attitude is just a way to hide the darker side of his personality, and he has been able to trick many people at first before seeing his malevolent nature. He is shown to be an apt planner, secretly transporting nanite-infused soil under the city to make himself as powerful as he was in Abysus as he attempted to take over the UN. He keeps a level head nearly all of the time, even in a situation where the odds are against him. 1.07, "Leader of the Pack" He strongly dislikes Providence, stating that he does not like them meddling with his plans. He does not like the fact that people see Providence as "saviors", as Van Kleiss sees himself as the true "savior". He purposely did not announce his arrival in New York City or about his diplomatic immunity, so that Providence would attack him and his henchmen, just for the purpose of humiliating them. Furthermore, when Rex asked Van Kleiss why he always tries to destroy a cure, Van Kleiss responded that he live off of Nanites and what Providence calls a "cure", he calls it as "death"." Physical Appearance Van Kleiss is a tall, broad, middle-aged man that is always clad in dark clothes and boots. His face is long and drawn under the eyes, which are a dark red. He usually wears his black hair long which has white-grayish streaks on the left and right ends of his bangs. Before he was cured by Rex, his clothing seemed to be a part of him as it regrew whenever he resurrected himself. He has several mechanical parts from his right arm to his chest. The most notable is his large golden, bio-mechanical hand that he uses to drain nanites from other E.V.O.s. The tips of the fingers end in large, blunt pins; only when he's about to feed do the pins extend into needles. The other inorganic parts of him are a large circular yellow hole in his chest that is linked to a large metal collar and possibly down to his right hand. After being cured, Van Kleiss's mechanical hand was fully restored to a normal hand 1.15, "What Lies Beneath". Although not shown, at some point he must have later created an upgraded version of his bio-mechanical hand 1.21, "Payback". When he attempted to address the UN General Assembly, he was shown with a black suit, and his hair slicked back during a formal event. Powers and Abilities Formerly In his homeland of Abysus, Van Kleiss was extremely powerful. Because the land was seeded with his own nanites, he could manipulate the whole environment and summon strong roots, vines, and creepers that could grab, hold up things, and aid his movement. He could even make it rain at just one spot. He could also form roots out of his body and use them as makeshift weapons. While in Abysus, he seemed to be immortal and could regenerate himself no matter how great the wound. He was so strong in Abysus that his enemies would not dare attack him there. Providence once sent an army to save Rex in Abysus, but in the end they were all wiped-out with ease. Six was the only survivor of the rescue team. Though more of a survival mechanism than a power, Van Kleiss could also use his bio-mechanical hand to drain the nanites out of other E.V.O.s, resulting in the E.V.O. being petrified and turned into a stone statue. The E.V.O.s that have been turned to stone are actually alive in their petrified state, some even able to break free with concentration, and are turned to stone again when their concentration is broken. 2.17, "Grounded" On trips out of Abysus, he was seen transporting nanite-infused soil with him. It was shown that he would die without his nanite-infused soil, or at least be severely weakened. Van Kleiss is shown to control an army of E.V.O.s under his command. His most powerful and elite E.V.O.s are formed into a group known as "the Pack". It is currently unknown how he is able to control the less intelligent E.V.O.s, while more intelligent ones could have been "persuaded" to join his cause. His body also acted as an organic stabilizer for the highly unstable nanites in Abysus. Dr. Holiday theorized that he was bonded to them at the molecular level and as a result Rex killing him made them more unstable. Indeed without him the nanites turned vicious and began to eat Abysus from the inside out and became roving swarms of black goo. Currently After being cured by Rex, Van Kleiss lost all of his original powers as an E.V.O., but claimed he still had his greatest strength: his intellect. When he reappeared later, his entire arm is bio-mechanical. It has the ability to stretch out, though the limitations of this are unknown. It also possesses superhuman strength as it is able to lift Agent Six during their brief battle, and easily punch through solid rock. 1.21, "Payback" He also demonstrated the ability to fire a multitude of sharp gold-colored projectiles from his bio-mechanical hand at incredible speeds. 2.01, "Rampage" His hand also stretches some 10-30 feet and is capable of lifting and then throwing a giant, multi-ton stone slab. 2.04, "Alliance" After absorbing all of Rex's active nanites (excluding the Omega-1 Nanite) Van Kleiss gained the ability to create E.V.O.s. These E.V.O.s are marked with a bright golden-colored handprint where he grabbed them. The E.V.O.s he creates are highly unstable and if not cured in time will become incurable. He is also incredibly agile. It seems that he still needs to feed off of E.V.O.s as he stated that he still needs nanites to survive. 2.12, "Written in Sand" Relationships Biowulf Biowulf is the second in command of the Pack and is leader of all the missions outside Abysus, seeing as Van Kleiss is limited to his home. Biowulf is very loyal to Van Kleiss. However, he is showing signs of tiring of Biowulf's continued failures and thus has begun drifting away from him. Rex classifies him as "not a normal lap dog". Breach Breach was a very useful asset to the Pack given her special powers. The only reason why Van Kleiss wants her with him at all times and not the others was that he could easily escape through her portals if needed. However, the nature of her powers allowed her to rescue the Pack if necessary. Van Kleiss was later abusing her power by placing a machine to enhance her powers that can open the portal through time. His quarrel with Rex caused her to distrust him. After Rex returned her powers, Van Kleiss laughed and mocked at his decision. But to his least expectation, Breach had sent him away first using her powers. 2.19, "Lions and Lambs" Circe She had evidently tried to join the Pack on her own. Her apparent use to Van Kleiss is that Rex wants to be closer to her 1.03, "Beyond the Sea". For a while, Circe had shown loyalty to Van Kleiss believing his way was the best for the EVO-s. Later, she left the Pack when she disagreed with his decision regarding Van Kleiss' true intention of using Rex's powers. After Circe left, It is revealed by Breach that Van Kleiss didn't take betrayal lightly. Breach told Circe that Van Kleiss had been looking forward to "chatting with her" and wanted to punish Circe for betraying him. 2.14, "Hard Target" Jungle Cat An E.V.O. who showed promise, but after he accidentally destroyed Van Kleiss' nanite dirt suit in "Dark Passage." He is then petrified by Van Kleiss who drained nanites and which turned him to stone. Then his stone form is knocked to the ground by Biowulf. In the "Grounded" episode he has learned to temporarily overcome petrification and joins with providence to seek his revenge on Van Kleiss. Rex Salazar Van Kleiss' true relationship with Rex is unknown as of now. He claims to know about Rex's past and his family but will only reveal this if Rex willingly joins him. They have already fought each other several times and Rex is determined to take Van Kleiss down. He also claims that Rex is very important to him, for what reason though remains a mystery. Although Rex is significant, he notes that he will eliminate Rex if he keeps getting in his way. The two have been shown ready to kill each other, but so far they have been interrupted each time. It seems that Rex is not his main target, but could be a primary target, since he stated to Rex that "it is not always about you." Van Kleiss took Rex's nanites and has been able to turn people into E.V.O.s since then. He did not seem to care what would happen to Rex after that, as he let Biowulf throw him out of the plane, though he regained interest when Rex got back his powers. 1.21, "Payback" It is later revealed that he is only interested in Rex's abilities, not his mind. 2.04, "Alliance" When both Van Kleiss and Rex were trapped in a sandstorm, they formed a temporary truce. During that time, Van Kleiss revealed information about the Omega-1 nanite, which he already knew was inside Rex. 2.12, "Written in Sand" Gabriel Rylander They evidently worked together on research for the Nanite Project five years ago. They came face to face again where he stopped Rylander from telling Rex the information about his family by stabbing him with the needles on his bio-mechanical hand. Van Kleiss said that Rylander knew nothing of truth, or loyalty and that he will continue the research on his own. Rylander saved Rex from further harm when he was down by knocking both himself and Van Kleiss into the unstable Nanite Reactor, disintegrating them both. Rylander is assumed to be dead, while Van Kleiss was able to be revived. Caesar Salazar Van Kleiss is shown to be greatly displeased by Caesar's unexpected return. The feeling is most likely mutual as Caesar called him a "third-rate lab hack". Van Kleiss claimed that Caesar himself was the one responsible for the release of incomplete nanites into the atmosphere five years ago. He supported this statement by giving Rex a warning about Caesar's strange behavior. He added that he is not to be trusted and that he is not who Rex believes him to be. 2.07, "Mixed Signals" Which has been proven to be true when Caesar revealed the truth about the nanite project. 3.08, "Black and WhiteVan Kleiss greatly resented Caesar for his actions to this day. Appearances Trivia * It was noted by Six that Providence knew about Van Kleiss and the Pack before Rex joined Providence. However, the Pack had never caused any problems up until the start of the series. * Van Kleiss is the first character in the series to be seen bleeding. * Despite losing his previous original powers, he claimed that he has retained his nanite hunger. * Van Kleiss is revealed to know that Rex has the Omega-1 Nanite. It would seem that he knew Rex's parents very well, enough to say that Rex takes after his mother. * The name "Van Kleiss" is Dutch meaning "of the Earth", a nod to his power over Abysus' soil and vegetation. * In "Riddle of the Sphinx", Van Kleiss makes a brief cameo appearance in hieroglyphics. This is also shown in Cartoon Network's Action Pack comic, Hero Times Two, which was published before the episode was released. * Van Kleiss, especially during his earlier appearances, has used very little technology, using E.V.O.s as vehicles instead of machines. In fact, some of his E.V.O.s, such as the Air Whale E.V.O. which he used for transportation, are so well-suited to their jobs that it raises quite the question how he obtained them. References }} Category:Characters Category:E.V.O.s Category:Human E.V.O.s Category:The Pack Category:Males Category:Scientists Category:Van Kleiss